Chapter 4

The slender and sharp bone spear broke into pieces, but instead of turning to dust, it scattered into a dozen bone teeth that spiraled upward, circling around Sigma and Arno. Each bone tooth, gleaming white, was imbued with a dark and unpredictable curse, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

Arno and Sigma clashed together, while the students used wooden practice swords for their sparring. Only these two madmen used real mage blades without any restraint.

At this time, the Nolun continent was in the golden age of rapid development in magical civilization. Various tools and skills related to mages had rigorous theoretical support. For example, the mage blades they used, from the selection of materials to the forging techniques, the origin of raw materials, mining points, smelting environments, forging skills... all were required to meet extremely strict standards, resulting in the creation of the most suitable general-purpose mage blades for mages. One of the most prominent features was their excellent elemental extensibility, allowing mages to easily attach various elemental forces to the blade and manipulate them with ease. Even if one said, "This is a dagger coated with deadly poison" and licked the blade, there was no need to worry about being poisoned by the poison they had applied.

Sigma's mage blade was imbued with a layer of frost power, each strike transmitting the frost power to the opponent. Due to his inferior physical strength and melee skills compared to the other, he had to play to his strengths and use the mage blade for defense and to slow down the enemy. The spells he cast with his other hand were the main form of attack.

Arno was indeed a good teacher. He completely abandoned the use of magical power, acting as a pure assassin, launching wave after wave of rapid attacks, almost suffocating Sigma. There was a consensus at Atlas Academy that even if Instructor Arno had not become a necromancer, he would have become a great warrior. The world was not short of geniuses, and even as a necromancer, who focused more on mental power and spellcasting skills, Arno's extraordinary warrior talent was not wasted. The fourth type of staff techniques and unrestricted combat techniques in mage defensive arts had been modified and improved multiple times by Arno.

"The essence of defensive arts lies in infinite possibilities. A single hidden blade technique combined with various spells can extend into hundreds of offensive moves. After quickly assessing the environment and the enemy's situation, one can use the most suitable spell from the most appropriate angle to launch the most suitable attack. Don't think it's exaggerated; the key to this martial art is rapid calculation, and the physical requirements are secondary. After all, mages have always had excellent memory and calculation skills." Arno saw an opening, twisted his weapon, and Sigma's wrist ached as the mage blade flew out of his hand.

But it wasn't over yet. Another bone spear appeared beside Sigma, which he grabbed and thrust towards Arno's face.

"Very good. The name of this martial art is Mage Defensive Arts, which is an effective response for mages when the enemy gets close, but it is not the main offensive tool for close combat. When the enemy gets close, your mind should focus on how to ensure your safety and regain distance to re-establish the tactical advantage of a spellcaster, rather than trying to defeat the enemy with close combat spells." Arno tilted his dagger, slicing along the shaft of the bone spear towards Sigma's fingers. "However, nothing is absolute. You are indeed a genius. In a life-and-death struggle, you might as well follow your instincts."

"Geniuses also need to sweat!" Sigma released the bone spear and retreated calmly. The frost power hidden in the hollow inner wall of the bone spear suddenly exploded. At the same time, the dozen bone teeth that had been circling in the sky swooped down like hawks, screaming through the air. "Especially a troublemaker like me!"

"I've heard a lot about you." Arno shrugged off the frost nova and the curse power on the bone teeth, which were like light rain to him. After easily breaking through Sigma's trap, he charged forward again. "The old men dote on you so much that they are reluctant to even hit you."

"Don't try to flatter me; I'm not a fool." Sigma picked up the mage blade stuck in the ground, made a few flourishes, and changed the frost power on the blade to curse power. The two sharp blades clashed again, sparking brightly. "I'm disobedient and mischievous. If I were any other student, I would have been reduced to ashes long ago. The old men have tolerated me until now and even indulged in my antics for two reasons."

"First!" Sigma's right hand drew a circle, blocking Arno's arm, and his left palm unleashed a mental blast. "An unfulfilled genius is meaningless, but my talent in the necromancy field is indeed something they have never seen before, so high that they can't help but place endless hopes on me!"

"You sure have a thick skin!" Arno turned his head to avoid the mental blast, rotated his feet ninety degrees clockwise, and suddenly pushed his shoulder into Sigma's chest. "Unfortunately, there is no perfect thing in the world. Your fear of ghosts is really laughable and pitiful."

"If I could, I would rather not have this talent." Sigma's left hand subtly pointed, and a smooth ice surface appeared under Arno's feet, with several sharp bone spines protruding from the ground. "But talent is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that even though I have a deep aversion and fear of the undead, and I am unwilling to learn many spells and knowledge, even so, my growth rate, which deviates from their planned development and follows my own path, far exceeds their expectations. I think this is the fundamental reason for their tolerance and even compromise!"

Arno shattered all the traps without a doubt and smiled. "You've made a good point, but it's not comprehensive. The Nolun continent is not short of geniuses, nor is it short of geniuses who die early. The reasons for the downfall of geniuses can be summarized in two words: jealousy and arrogance. The former is external malice, and the latter is internal inflation. I don't know if you will be killed by others who are jealous and wary of you, but from your actions over the past few years, although you are shameless, full of evil, and even considered insane, everyone says that the more insane you are, the less they worry that you will be mentally twisted by suddenly acquired great power. But I can't figure out the positive connection between insanity and rationality..."

"I see..." Sigma thought carefully, his eyes twitching. "My extreme aversion to the dark and evil knowledge and spells in the necromancy field, and my preference for steady progress in my own way, inherently suppress the corruption and influence of death power on my soul, making me less attracted to the mysteries and power of the death domain. The more I enthusiastically take revenge on society and act insanely, the more my integrity drops, and the less integrity I have, the less shame I feel. With less shame, I won't care too much about so-called self-respect and face. Even if provoked, I won't be impulsive and angry, using violence to solve everything, but will retaliate in a more insane and shameless way... In this way, the roots of arrogance and self-inflation are almost eliminated, and I only need to be careful about my psychological issues..."

"Very thorough analysis." Arno was very approving. "But you are about to lose."

Taking advantage of Sigma's distraction while thinking and talking, Arno suddenly launched an attack, easily disarming the passive Sigma and placing the sharp mage blade against the neck of the shameless student. "Never let your guard down at any time."

"You too, Instructor." The restrained Sigma smiled slightly, his eyes looking down. Arno followed his gaze and saw that Sigma's hanging left hand was holding a bone spear, the tip of which had pierced between Arno's legs, pressing against his private parts. The mischievous student, known as a flood beast by the whole school, smiled wickedly and gently lifted the bone spear. "It will explode, Instructor."

"Damn, you're really cunning." Arno cursed and put his dagger away. "Again?"

"No more." Sigma retracted the bone spear and took a deep breath. "Sparring with the instructor is too intense. Usually, it's fine, but I have an aerial combat class this afternoon. Instructor Hartmann will be testing the cobra maneuver and the harrier turn tactical evasion moves. To perform well, I need to be in perfect physical condition, so I won't practice anymore."

***

PS1: New author, new book, seeking recommendations, collections, and support.

PS2: This afternoon, my mother found a young sparrow that can't fly well yet. The old dog at home has been eyeing it hungrily... It eats the food we give it and then flies out of its makeshift nest to land on my foot. It's quite interesting.